A LITTLE more than 12 months after taking charge of Wales, manager John Toshack witnessed the worst performance to date under his care in Limassol last night.

Cyprus, who last month had given the Republic of Ireland a huge scare with an all-action display that lacked only a goal, might have needed a penalty to secure their victory at a Tsirion Stadium barely a quarter full and where the visiting Welsh fans almost out-numbered the home turnout.

And the home side would have won more handsomely had it not been for an excellent showing on his debut by Ipswich Town goalkeeper Lewis Price.

He was one of four changes from the team that beat Azerbaijan 2-0 in Cardiff last month, at last making his bow after injury had robbed him of his first senior cap on three previous occasions.

Coventry defender Robert Page returned to the centre of defence alongside Danny Gabbidon, who was handed the captain's armband in the absence of Ryan Giggs.

Swansea City defender Sam Ricketts was recalled after a one-match absence and Blackburn Rovers striker Craig Bellamy was also back in action after missing the last five internationals.

But last night's display lacked both cohesion and concentration on a widespread scale and few of the outfield play-ers on show emerged from the match with any credit.

The visitors didn't make the best of starts and were grateful to the alert Price, who beat away a fierce first-time shot from Konstantinos Charalampidis after four minutes.

Then Carl Robinson was caught on the ball by Cyprus skipper Ioannis Okkas, who raced downfield and drove the ball just wide of the target.

Apart from Bellamy, who twice outpaced the home defence but was unable to find any supporting colleagues in the penalty area, Wales were looking distinctly uncomfortable and Price again did well to parry from defender Lambros Lambrou in the 16th minute.

Two minutes later, Bellamy was only inches away from putting his side ahead, but he failed to get enough on the ball from John Hartson's flick and goal-keeper Michael Morphis was happy to concede a corner.

An uncharacteristic error by Price, who spilled a well-struck Lambrou free-kick, spelt more danger but it was Bellamy who popped up on his own line to hack away Charalampidis' goal-bound header.

The Blackburn striker was in the thick of the action, next running clear to set up another opening but David Vaughan arrived just too late and it was no real surprise when Cyprus finally made their pressure count two minutes before the break.

Konstantinos Makridis teased a reckless challenge from Danny Collins and went down in the box to earn a penalty, which was crisply despatched by Chrysostomos Michail much to the delight of the sparse home support.

Wales had been desperately poor in the opening 45 minutes and there was a change at the resumption, West Ham United player Gavin Willams - on loan at Ipswich Town - replacing the disappointing Collins as the system changed from 3-5-2 to 4-4-2.

But there was no immediate upturn in their fortunes against opponents brimming with confidence and who were passing the ball quickly and accurately to keep the Welsh defence firmly on their toes.

A free-kick provided a rare opportunity for the visitors, but although Hart-son rose highest to meet Robinson's punt forward, the Celtic striker was not able to direct the ball remotely close to the goal and they went near to conceding again in the 56th minute when Yiasemakis Yiasoumi was left unmarked to thump a 20-yard effort narrowly wide.

Time and again, the Wales back line was stretched and their midfield simply could not get hold of the ball either often enough or for long enough to build any meaningful passage of play.

Vaughan, who had been impressive in his last outing, made way in the 67th minute for a third striker in Robert Earnshaw.

But Cyprus continued to make virtually all the running and when home keeper Miorphis was replaced by Antonis Giorgialides in the 72nd minute, his jog to the touchline was as active as he'd been all evening.

In sharp contrast, Price had stood between the home side and a rout and he pulled off another two fine saves in as many minutes.

First, he was on his mettle to deny Okkas before tipping away an effort by Charalampidis.

And when Cyprus poured forward again, outnumbering the Welsh defence in their eagerness to make the game safe, the keeper again was equal to the shot from Charalmpidis, turning the ball over the bar.

It was not until five minutes from the end that Wales posed their first meaningful threat of the half, substitute Earn-shaw making space for a shot that whistled just wide of the target.

MAN OF THE MATCH... Lewis Price

Not many contenders but he and Danny Gabbidon did his best to stem the Cypriot tide.